This question was sent in by a student during a Q&A session with the Good Fight Youth Group:
“Can you give a real-life example of God giving you hope personally, leading to peace in your life?”
A few years ago, my cousin Tony died in a car accident.
He was young… too young.
He was about to be married, serving in ministry with the youth at his church, full of life and laughter, and deeply loved by his parents, sister, and everyone who knew him.
When we got the call, it felt like a punch to the gut.
I remember sitting in the shock and the grief, weeping, asking God all the questions you ask in moments like that:
Why?
How could You let this happen?
Where are You in this?
It devastated our family.
Tony’s parents — my aunt and uncle — were devestated, their hearts shattered into pieces.
His sister was crushed, trying to navigate a world without her brother in it.
And I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that someone so full of life, so in love with Jesus, was just… gone.
I grieved the fact that Tony never got the chance to meet my son, Jack.
Tony would have adored Jack.
In our lives, there was this deep ache.
This empty space where Tony was supposed to be.
At first, all I could see was the loss.
But then, slowly, God began to speak into the brokenness. Not with easy answers, not with trite sayings or quick fixes, but with truth.
Truth that anchored me, even in the storm.
The Reality of a Broken World
The first thing He reminded me of was the reality we live in:
This world is broken. Death, sin, and suffering exist.
As much as we try to avoid it, as much as we wish it weren’t true, it’s part of life on this side of eternity.
In Romans 8:22–23, Paul writes:
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”
Creation groans. We groan.
Why? Because this world isn’t as it should be.
But here’s the thing: Even in the groaning, there’s hope.
The Hope of Eternity
The second thing God reminded me of was Tony’s faith.
We knew where Tony was. Not because of anything he’d done, but because of what Jesus had done for him.
Because Jesus had taken Tony’s sin, his brokenness, his humanity, and traded it for grace, for wholeness, for life eternal.
In John 11:25–26, Jesus says:
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
We believed it. And we knew Tony believed it, too.
That hope became our lighthouse.
It didn’t take away the storm. It didn’t erase the pain or the questions. But it pointed us home. It reminded us that this wasn’t the end of Tony’s story — or ours.
The Promise of Redemption
In moments like this, I’m reminded of something C.S. Lewis wrote in The Great Divorce:
“They say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it,’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.”
I don’t pretend to fully understand that. But I believe it.
I believe that one day, in the new heaven and earth, every tear will be wiped away. Every wound will be healed. Every loss will be redeemed.
Revelation 21:4 gives us this promise:
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
That’s the hope we hold onto. The hope that leads to peace, even when the waves are high.
Living in the Tension
I’d be lying if I said it’s easy. It’s not.
I still miss Tony. I still wish he were here.
I still grieve the fact that he never got to meet my son or walk further into the life he was so excited to live.
But here’s the thing: I don’t grieve without hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 says:
“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.”
We grieve. But we grieve with hope.
Because one day, I’ll see Tony again.
One day, we’ll walk together in the new creation. No more tears. No more death. Just the fullness of life with Jesus.
And that hope?
It doesn’t take away the sadness. But it leads to peace.
It reminds me that the story isn’t over. That the Author is good. And that the ending will be more beautiful than anything I can imagine.
As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:26:
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Youth Q&A: How Losing My Cousin Taught Me Hope In The Midst of Tragedy was originally published in GoodLion Theology on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
